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The 1934 FIFA World Cup was
the first World
Cup where the teams had to qualify, since
the first edition in 1930 had no qualification rounds
(the participating teams were invited by FIFA). This time, a total of 32 teams entered the
competition, so FIFA had to organize qualification
(or preliminary) rounds to reduce the field to 16 teams for the
final tournament. Even Italy, the host of the
World Cup, had to qualify (the only time the hosts had to qualify,
and one of only two times the hosts have ever taken part in the
qualification process[1]), while
the defending champions Uruguay refused to
participate and defend their title because many European nations
declined to take part in the 1930 World Cup held in Uruguay.

The 32 teams were divided into 12 groups, based on geographical
considerations, as follows:

Notes

The match to decide whether USA or Mexico would qualify was
played in Italy only three days before the start of the final
tournament, as the USA team submitted their entry too late. Thus,
the match was played on Italian ground, so that the winner would
effectively stay for the tournament (the teams travelled by ship at
that time, and travelling from America to Europe took around 15
days).